Welcome

Welcome to the POZ Community Forums, a round-the-clock discussion area for people with HIV/AIDS, their friends/family/caregivers, and
others concerned about HIV/AIDS. Click on the links below to browse our various forums; scroll down for a glance at the most recent posts; or join in the
conversation yourself by registering on the left side of this page.

Privacy Warning: Please realize that these forums are open to all, and are fully searchable via Google and other search engines. If you are HIV positive
and disclose this in our forums, then it is almost the same thing as telling the whole world (or at least the World Wide Web). If this concerns you, then do not use a
username or avatar that are self-identifying in any way. We do not allow the deletion of anything you post in these forums, so think before you post.

The information shared in these forums, by moderators and members, is designed to complement, not replace, the relationship between an individual and his/her own
physician.

All members of these forums are, by default, not considered to be licensed medical providers. If otherwise, users must clearly define themselves as such.

Forums members must behave at all times with respect and honesty. Posting guidelines, including time-out and banning policies, have been established by the moderators
of these forums. Click here for “Am I Infected?” posting guidelines. Click here for posting guidelines pertaining to all other POZ community forums.

We ask all forums members to provide references for health/medical/scientific information they provide, when it is not a personal experience being discussed. Please
provide hyperlinks with full URLs or full citations of published works not available via the Internet. Additionally, all forums members must post information which are
true and correct to their knowledge.

Finished Reading This? You can collapse this or any other box on this page by clicking the
symbol in each box.

Welcome to Am I Infected

Welcome to the "Am I Infected?" POZ forum.

New members -- those who have posted three or fewer messages -- are permitted to post questions and responses, free of charge (make them count!). Ongoing participation in the "Am I Infected?" forum -- posting more than three questions or responses -- requires a paid subscription.

A seven-day subscription is $9.99, a 30-day subscription is $14.99 and a 90-day subscription is $24.99.

Anyone who needs to post more than three messages in the "Am I Infected?" forum -- including past, present and future POZ Forums members -- will need to subscribe, with secure payments made via PayPal.

There will be no charge to continue reading threads in the "Am I Infected?" forum, nor will there be a charge for participating in any of the Main Forums; Meds, Mind, Body & Benefits; and Off Topic Forums. Similarly, all POZ pages, including our "HIV Transmission and Risks" and "Am I Infected? (A Guide to Testing for HIV)" basics, will remain accessible to all.

NOTE: HIV testing questions will still need to be posted in the "Am I Infected?" forum; attempts to post HIV symptoms or testing questions in any other forums will be considered violations of our rules of membership and subject to time-outs and permanent bans.

To learn how to upgrade your Forums account to participate beyond three posts in the "Am I Infected?" Forum, please click here.

Thank you for your understanding and future support of the best online support service for people living with, affected by and at risk for HIV.

Author
Topic: Open cut and sticky surface (Read 5660 times)

I share an apartment with a HIV+ guy. I touched the water faucet when I was cooking. The faucet was wet and sticky. Half a minute later I had my finger badly cut and it bled a lot. Could I catch the HIV virus from the wet and sticky faucet? If the faucet had been dry, I would not have worried about it. But it was wet and sticky and I suspect that there might be HIV+ semen on the faucet. (I have a good reason to think so but I will spare you with the details here)

My questions:1. How long can HIV virus live on a wet surface?2. Can I get infected via the way I described?

Carl, you weren't at risk for HIV transmission in that incident. HIV is a very fragile virus and needs a receptive atmosphere like a vagina or an anus for transmission or directly into the bloodstream through a needle intravenously or a medical work accident.

Even IF the sticky substance on the faucet had been semen or blood from your friend, it would not have been viable.

It's understandable that you are concerned about your health. But in the 25 years of the epidemic no one's become infected through the kind of casual circumstances you have described, and I am bearing in mind you have mentioned having a cut on your hand. If you haven't already done so, I suggest you read the lesson about Transmission on this site. You'll find a link to it in the Welcome thread which opens this site.

I'm glad you have raised this concern. There are probably other people with HIV who are in your life only you don't know it. As long as you follow the simple safer sex guidelines consistently you will be ok as far as HIV is concerned.

Doing that will also spare you this kind of unnecessary worrying and concern when you are with someone who's HIV+.

Hiv is a fragile, difficult to transmit virus that is quickly damaged outside the human body. When hiv is damaged, it can no longer infect. As Rodney says, you won't become infected through touching surfaces.

Please read through the Welcome Thread and follow and read the Transmission Lesson link so you can understand how hiv is and isn't transmitted.

Here's what else you need to know to avoid hiv infection: You need to be using condoms for anal or vaginal intercourse, every time, no exceptions until such time as you are in a securely monogamous relationship where you have both tested for ALL STIs together. To agree to have unprotected intercourse is to consent to the possibility of being infected with a sexually transmitted infection. Sex with a condom lasts only a matter of minutes, but hiv is forever.

Have a look through the condom and lube links in my signature line so you can use condoms with confidence.

Anyone who is sexually active should be having a full sexual health care check-up, including but not limited to hiv testing, at least once a year and more often if unprotected intercourse occurs.

If you aren't already having regular, routine check-ups, now is the time to start. As long as you make sure condoms are being used for intercourse, you can fully expect your routine hiv tests to return with negative results. Don't forget to always get checked for all the other sexually transmitted infections as well, because they are MUCH easier to transmit than hiv.

Use condoms for anal or vaginal intercourse and you will avoid hiv infection. It really is that simple!

"...health will finally be seen not as a blessing to be wished for, but as a human right to be fought for." Kofi Annan

Nymphomaniac: a woman as obsessed with sex as an average man. Mignon McLaughlin

HIV is certainly character-building. It's made me see all of the shallow things we cling to, like ego and vanity. Of course, I'd rather have a few more T-cells and a little less character. Randy Shilts

411

1. How long can HIV virus live on a wet surface?2. Can I get infected via the way I described?

The only question that is somewhat relevant is question 2 as question 1 can be answered by stating it doesn't matter since you can't be infected via the method you described, without question.

Since you report living with a positive person it would probably be in your interest to read up in the lessons section to become more informed about what constitutes a risk versus non risk. This incident is more of a non incident than anything to become worried about. Consider it a bit, there are many serosorted families out there with one family member positive yet the other members, including children, remaining negative.

Good luck on overcoming your concerns but the day to day stuff of sharing a flat with a positive person simply isn't going to pose any risk to you.

First you would need a large laceration, not a paper cut, not an abrasion, not a nick, but a good laceration. Then the fluid would have to come directly from the positive person. So you would have needed to be jacked off on your laceration or have gotten a lot of blood from the infected person directly on your wound.

Is that true that no one has ever got infected via the way I described? Even if the cut is deep and bleeding and the blood/semen on the environmental surface is quite “fresh”? Not even one person got infected this way? I do have difficulty believing this. I have doubts about the absolute non-infection from an environmental surface. Please help me out.

Is that true that no one has ever got infected via the way I described? Even if the cut is deep and bleeding and the blood/semen on the environmental surface is quite “fresh”? Not even one person got infected this way? I do have difficulty believing this. I have doubts about the absolute non-infection from an environmental surface. Please help me out.

hi... sorry to ride on your thread, but i have a related question...what if i have dry hands such to an extent that my skin is peeling and have cuts here n there... and i masturbated for a lady (hand entered the vagina)...would this be an infection risk?

Is that true that no one has ever got infected via the way I described? Even if the cut is deep and bleeding and the blood/semen on the environmental surface is quite “fresh”? Not even one person got infected this way? I do have difficulty believing this. I have doubts about the absolute non-infection from an environmental surface. Please help me out.